


Through Sunlight

by efnisien



Category: Angel: the Series
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-10
Updated: 2010-01-10
Packaged: 2017-10-06 02:13:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/efnisien/pseuds/efnisien
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>S3 AU: Wesley doesn't betray Angel and Connor dies as a baby.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Through Sunlight

Cordelia came into the courtyard in the evening and was surprised to find Angel already there. She had thought that the singed smell had come from one of Wesley's stinky experiments, but no: it was clear that Angel had walked through the light before the sun had entirely sank beneath the horizon. She cleared her throat, as if vampire hearing hadn't already told him of her approach, and sat down next to him. When he didn't react, she put her hand on his knee.

She considered getting even more familiar, but even Cordelia had limits to what she'd do to get a reaction, especially at a time like this. "I'm sorry," she said simply. "Wesley says--"

"I heard him," Angel said. His voice was even, controlled, not the slightest bit hoarse.

Ordinarily Cordelia would have told him to stop moping, but his son had died. Just two months old, and he had died in the night. Angel had known the moment Connor stopped breathing. "I'm sorry," Cordelia said again, because she didn't know what else could be said. "He deserved more time."

Finally Angel looked up. "He had more time than I gave others," he said.

Cordelia spent most of her time thinking of Angel as someone with peculiar dietary habits and even more peculiar sartorial tastes. It was how she reconciled herself to working for someone who used to kill people for fun. Thinking in shades of gray gave her a headache, and the Powers That Be sent her plenty of those already, thanks.

"You think someone killed him as punishment?" she said, aghast.

Angel closed his eyes for a moment. "Of course not," he said. "It was just a death. Babies have been dying in their sleep since time began. It's tragic, but it happens."

"It's awfully suspicious," Cordelia said. "There has to be a way--"

"No," he said. "Death is death. You can't get around it. I know that now." His expression grew distant, and she knew he was thinking of Darla.

"You have to let it out," Cordelia said. "You have to grieve."

"Everyone dies around me," Angel said. "I don't have anything left for him. My own son."

Tears pricked at her own eyes, but she refused to let them fall. "Is that what you're going to do? Stop caring? You already have a cold, dead heart. Is that all you're going to be?"

He didn't smile, but a moment of wryness broke through the grief. "Don't ever change, Cordelia."

"Only for the better," she said breezily. "Now no more of this walking through sunlight. It's bad for your complexion."

Angel looked at her curiously. "But I do it all the time," he said. "That's what people are."


End file.
